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How to Find a Great Property Manager

You’ve worked hard to invest in real estate. Whether you’ll be rewarded for your labours depends on how well you put that property to use.Fortunately, even if you haven’t got time to get steeped in the details yourself, there are plenty of property managerswilling to do the job for you. The only question is how you’ll pick the best option. Here are five steps that you can’t afford to overlook as you decide…

1. Seek out and Research Diverse Referrals

Sure, you may have an opinionated friend who offers plenty of advice on which property managers are the best, but even if they’re correct, you’re better off casting a wide net. The more you broaden your search, the more likely it is that you’ll find a suitable management company. Real estate agents can be a great source of information.

Overcome potential biases by getting referrals from numerous people. Making a list of the different companies that service property owners in your area is a good way to keep tabs on the pros and cons of each as you investigate further. Although you should avoid popularity bandwagons, talking to more people might make it easier to confirm or disprove rumours.

Searching online is also a good way to find property managers and discover what their past clients really thought about them. Services such as Select a Property Manager make it easy to request quotes from a range of the best property managers in the market, for example here you can find a property manager in Auckland and see how they are rated on Google and Facebook in one place.

2. Judge Each Prospect’s Work for Yourself

Don’t just trust your selection to another person. Gauging a property management company’s work on your own can help you weed out incompatible business partners quickly.

For instance, a company could do a fantastic job keeping its properties clean and well maintained yet totally drop the ball when it comes to publishing rental listings online. If you want to profit from becoming a lessor, material fastidiousness might not make up for a general lack of marketing acumen.

Assess each property management company through the lens of an investor as well as that of a potential renter. If a particular company’s business model fails to align with your objectives, then move on.

3. Explore Their Credentials

The property management industry in New Zealand is self regulated so there is no central authority. But a good measure is whether or not they use audited trust accounts to handle all client/property transactions. This is a basic safety guard that separates the reliable professional and the fly-by-night operator.

Property managers with additional training and certification may be more committed to doing a good job on your behalf. Although there are outliers in any field, examining a manager’s credentials is a good way to identify true professionals.

4. Set Your Standards High

Every investor seeks something different from an ideal property management company. Your criteria are sure to be unique, but it’s wise to decide which factors are the most important before you start hammering out terms with specific providers. Some common considerations to think about might include:

Communication: Does your property manager make it easy to get in touch 24/7?

Transparency: Will your property manager disclose its business relationships and financial controls?

Accountability: When things go wrong, do they provide resolution mechanisms?

5. Interview and Sample Different Offerings

Treat this relationship as a business owner would approach hiring a new employee. Interview property managers in person and ask the hard questions:

How many properties they currently manage?

Have they’ve previously handled assets similar to yours?

How well they understand laws concerning tenants, eviction and rent collection?

Do they have audited trust accounts?

Finally, obtain copies of each company’s management agreement. Review the terms with a legal consultant to determine whether they’re in your best interest. Reading through contracts can paint a clearer picture of what you’ll get from working with a specific firm, so be sure that you understand the particulars.